Made largely in the village of Fuentaduena, 40 miles from Madrid on the Valencia road, in the front lines and in Madrid itself. The story centres around the necessity for keeping the road to Madrid open, and the life of the villagers of Fuentaduena who were working against time and in spite of bombing from the air, to complete and irrigation channel which would bring water to their fields and enable them to grow food for the besieged city of Madrid. Commentary and narration by Ernest Hemmingway; photography by John Ferno and Joris Ivens; editing by Helen van Donen; musical arrangement from Spanish folk tunes by Marc Blitzstein and Virgil Thomson; production committee - Archibald MacLeish, Lillian Hellman and John dos Passos.
Content notification
Our collection comprises over 40,000 moving image works, acquired and catalogued between the 1940s and early 2000s. As a result, some items may reflect outdated, offensive and possibly harmful views and opinions. ACMI is working to identify and redress such usages.
Learn more about our collection and our collection policy here. If you come across harmful content on our website that you would like to report, let us know.
How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
322812
Language
English
Subject categories
Agriculture, Business, Commerce & Industry → Farm life - Spain
Agriculture, Business, Commerce & Industry → Spain - Rural conditions
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Spain - Rural conditions
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Village communities - Spain
Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → Bombing, Aerial
Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → Combat
Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → Spain - History - Civil War, 1936-1939
Climate, Environment, Natural Resources & Disasters → Irrigation
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Death
Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Death
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Black and White
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)
16mm film; Access Print (Section 1)